NY Times: No End in Sight (to the financial crisis)

[marmar]

Editorial
No End in Sight

Published: August 19, 2008


A year into the financial crisis, the news is grim and there are signs of even worse troubles ahead. The mortgage bust continues and has begun to spread to loans for construction and commercial property, as well as credit cards and auto loans.

There may soon be more bank failures and a spate of corporate bankruptcies. That means that unemployment will almost certainly rise — employers have shed nearly half a million jobs this year — and those who keep their jobs will have to cope with fewer hours, measlier raises and evaporating bonuses.

In an election year, sound policy making is almost always trumped by political posturing, making the situation even bleaker. A case in point is the new foreclosure-prevention law. President Bush threatened for months to veto it, before signing it in July. The law’s main feature — allowing the government to guarantee hundreds of billions of dollars in new mortgages to troubled borrowers — won’t take effect until Oct. 1.

The law’s other important feature — a contingency plan for a government bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the nation’s biggest mortgage companies — was a last-minute, crisis-driven addition, the opposite of the ahead-of-the-curve action that is now needed.

The country cannot afford more delay and more posturing. Before the crisis gets any worse, Congress must take several steps. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/20/opinion/20wed1.html

[10 Year Freeper]

1. No Oversight

The money institutions created "free money" free from oversight, and peddled it to the un-educated and greedy. Then created the big lie that real estate would always go up.

Then, they cashed their checks and left the taxpayer with the bill.

[Loge23]

2. The "ownership" society

This, IMO, was directly to support the evil admin's initiative of a "ownership" society.
These bastards all work together.

[madrchsod]

3. no one is offering a solution that would benefit all those involved

there`s no balancing to let the economy settle without breaking..